Here at Alphabet Bands, the start of every New Year means the start of a new Alphabet, and we have something rather special to open up our Class of 2018. Showcasing bright indie-pop and dark, sinewy electronica, Pikoe is a act to get excited about and take note of in 2018.
Originally beginning as a solo project for Hunting Stories Rafael Sanchez, Pikoe was never intended to be anything more than a personal project to explore a different sound. Such was the reaction to early demos posted online last year however that Rafeal soon realised it could be much more. A quick recruitment of his younger brother Jose (who has been playing in bands with his older brother since they were little) as well as music college friends Ben Marino and Michael Summer and Pikoe quickly became a four-strong band. With production coming from Patrick Taylor (of Trash Panda fame), Rafeal was ready to go to work.
Their latest release is “Suydam”, a dark echoey presence that twists and shudders hypnotically as it twists and contracts around a deliciously infectious pop hook. As the track builds it vibrates; warped electronics reach out into your mind and soul, probing and electrifying before the whole thing breaks down into a stark, thudding electro-hip-hop finale. It’s Oh Wonder meets Hezen meets Harry Edwards and it is just incredible.
“Suydam” is the second track to be taken from Pikoe’s forthcoming Songs to Dance Alone To EP, following on from the dazzlingly bright and Arcade Fire-y “Fall-N-Out”. A veritable hookapalooza, it’s big and vibrant, hugely danceable and an effortlessly fun tune that belie the heartfelt emotions contained within. It’s pretty much everything good pop music should be.
The video for “Fall-N-Out’ was made as part of the Dance Alone Film Project, an idea that will see each of the four songs on the EP have videos made by different local directors from the Bushwick, Brooklyn area. Director Mark Sylvester and producer Maggie Miller put together the video you can see below (using just an iPhone X) and “Suydam” will soon have a one-shot video from Dan Stebbins and choreographer Margaret Jones to accompany it.
This is just the beginning of what promises to be a pretty good year for Pikoe, with not only Songs To Dance Alone To due out soon, but also a second EP, Mourners/Murmurs pencilled in for late 2018. Keep an ear and an eye out for them, big things are surely ahead of them and we are absolutely delighted to kick that all off by inducting them as the first entrant to the Alphabet Bands Class of 2018.
“Suydam” is out now and available to buy from iTunes. “Suydam” is taken from the ‘Songs To Dance Alone To’ EP which is due for release on 2 March.
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